


Like Dragon Fire

by Glass_O_Lemonade



Category: The Umbrella Academy (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Mashima Hiro's Fairy Tail Setting, Angst, Dysfunctional Family, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Ensemble Cast, F/M, Gen, M/M, Magic, Multi, Non-Chronological, POV Multiple, Pogo is an Exceed (a cat with wings), Reginald Hargreeves' A+ Parenting
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-04-15
Updated: 2019-12-04
Packaged: 2020-01-13 16:01:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 22
Words: 17,591
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18472285
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Glass_O_Lemonade/pseuds/Glass_O_Lemonade
Summary: Top ranked Wizard Saint, Sir Reginald Hargreeves, is dead. This is a collection of moments in the lives of Sir Hargreeves’ seven wards, before and after his passing.





	1. An Introduction

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whether you're familiar with FT or not, I thank you for checking this AU out. It began as a random what-if thought, and is now my current passion project. Kudos and comments are always appreciated. I'll be updating anytime the mood strikes me to write another part, so new chapters will either be often or sporadic. I hope you enjoy!
> 
> Notes on this AU: Fairy Tail follows a group of wizards from the Fairy Tail guild through their various adventures. There's a vast array of magic and spells for mages to know. The magic in this AU will draw from mostly FT lore, with some alterations. A guild is the place wizards join if they want to take on official (legal) job requests to receive rewards/compensation (mostly $, which is jewel in FT.) Lastly, the age at which the Hargreeves reunite in this fic will be when they're 24 (approaching 25) and not 29 (approaching 30). I made this change to better suit the pace of this AU since FT's leads are in their late-teens/early-20's. However, this is not a crossover. No FT characters (except for a few villains/antagonists for plot purposes) will be making appearances.

**Year 799**

The death of the continent’s top Wizard Saint spread like dragon fire. Sir Reginald Hargreeves, esteemed inventor, unrivaled wizard, and renowned recluse in his final years, had passed away in his sleep. The news reached the council first, and then trickled out in ripples and waves to the public. Rumors were quick to follow the official announcement. Old age. Loneliness. Black magic. A dark guild. An assassin. An assassin sent _by_ the council. The public knew not what to believe. The greatest wizard to live for the last half century was dead, and the lack of extreme circumstance surrounding his passing left many at a loss.

In a few months’ time, rankings were changed, the Wizard Saint roster properly updated. The Magic Council officially dismissed any further inquiries into the death of Sir Hargreeves, unanimously accepting that the great wizard merely succumbed to natural causes.

Life for those in Ishgar continued as it once had.

* * *

 

The death of the continent’s top Wizard Saint spread like dragon fire. Sir Reginald Hargreeves, immoral researcher and callous father, was really, truly dead. Despite being scattered to the four winds, the news swiftly reached Sir Hargreeves’ seven wards, each now aged beyond the years of requiring a guardian, mentor, teacher, or parent. Along with the news came the date and time of his scheduled funeral. The specifics were included within a written command to attend, deceptively disguised as a friendly invitation.

Without sending prior word to one another, each Hargreeves’ heir made their separate way to the Hargreeves Mansion, not knowing what would await each of them upon arrival. No one suspected it would draw all seven of them back together for the first time in nearly thirteen years.

Life for these seven mages never continued as it once had.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next: Threes Deaths & One Rebirth


	2. Three Deaths

When one is a Wizard Saint, the world around you bends and breaks itself in a continuous cycle to procure anything and everything wanted and needed. When one is a Wizard Saint, no one questions why you open your doors to seven, young orphans seemingly on a whim. When one is a Wizard Saint, no one worries about the weekly destructive fights and troublesome sounds that emerge from your property. When one is a Wizard Saint, no one bats an eye at the sudden surge in magic power each of your wards receives one night or their cries of pain from the illegal procedure.

When you are Sir Reginald Hargreeves, Ishgar’s #1 Ranked Wizard Saint, society’s laws no longer confine you.

* * *

 

**Year 799**

Luther learns of his father’s passing via communication lacrima. It only sends and receives to one of Sir Hargreeves’ personal devices, but for the past four years it’s been completely silent. At first, Luther grew unnerved by the lack of conversation, part of him wanting proof of his father’s concern for him. However, as always, Luther found a reason, an excuse. He was off on a century quest solo, and he’d only been gone four years. His father must be waiting to catch-up after his fifth year away, his tenth. There was time.

Luther learns of his father’s passing via the travel-sized communication lacrima he carries with him, his only connection to life beyond his quest. The news shakes him, leaves him in an upended world. The request for his presence in a few days’ time makes the news all that more real.

* * *

 

** Year 794**

The last time Luther witnessed death, it was his own. He doesn’t recall much from the ordeal, the operation. It was an S-class quest with an enchantingly large reward attached to it. His father sent him on it alone. The Hargreeves mark, indentifying him as one of the most powerful and competent wizards around, guided him beyond his apprehension... and towards his death.

Luther’s unsure whether he actually died that day or merely came close, much too close.

When he finally reawoke it was to a body he didn’t recognize, a magic he never wanted. He was alive, recovering, breathing, alive, but he no longer knew who he was in the world.

Years passed mostly in solitude as he fulfilled his father’s final command. It isn’t until some time following Hargreeves’ private funeral that Luther realized it was all for nothing. There was no master plan, great reveal waiting in the wings. He wasn’t the best, the strongest, the only one capable to complete the impossible, to slay the legendary, dark dragon. No.

_He was sent away to die._

* * *

 

** Year 790**

If he never died, the actual last death to touch him was his brother’s. He held Ben’s crumpled form in his arms, but his eyes refused to believe what he saw. One moment his brother was bleeding out, eyes unfocused. The next, Ben stopped breathing, and his entire body dissolved into the air. His brother was gone. _And it was all his fault._

* * *

 

In the beginning, Sir Reginald Hargreeves taught his first ward strength based spells. The boy appeared quite fit for one without any previous caregivers, or maybe that impression was simply gleamed from the brief future flashes he sporadically received. Regardless, to Hargreeves, Luther was the most likely candidate to physically withstand the stress of learning Take Over magic at such a young age.

In time, he’d grow to be intimidating in stature, a wizard and a warrior. In time, he’d fight a foe he could not beat. In time, Hargreeves would operate, implanting an undamged lacrima inside his chest, stabbing a syringe of (mostly) ethernano straight into his heart. In time, the man would become a monster.

* * *

 

** Year 794**

_He survives._

Luther survives, but in the morning he wakes to find his upper body that of a beast. No matter how many times he calls upon his magic, attempts a Take Over, the jet black, thick hair, tough, leathery skin, and bulging muscles remain. He can never turn it off. Luther’s only grateful it stops short of his neck and head, not wanting to live each day with tusks and horns.

He’s not a man. He’s not a wizard.

Luther doesn’t know what he is.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next: Enter Five


	3. Time

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Promising now, there'll eventually be dialogue & longer chapters... Just not yet.

**Year 786**

He had the capacity to learn any and every magic the world offered, but he decided from a young age, five or six perhaps, that it would serve him better in the long run to excel in only one or two kinds. Hone each until every facet and spell were unlocked to him.

Father may have forced spatial magic upon him, but he _chose_ the magic of time.

Time. The before. The now. The after. Yesterday, Today, Tomorrow. Past. Present. Future.

Five Hargreeves dedicated hours upon hours to reading, to research. Every book in his father’s library crossed his eyes at least once. When word of his extracurricular studies reached his father many an argument was held, but he never stopped.

Eventually, Five was out of books. With nothing to distract from his reality, Five began to see the man their father truly was. The mansion grew smaller as he grew older, more a cage than a home. Perhaps it was always a cage.

If Five wanted to know more, to try more, he'd need to leave the mansion. Leaving while unaccompanied was strictly forbidden. The entire estate was covered in various enchantments, designed to impede and stop anyone attempting to enter or leave without Sir Hargreeves’ expressed permission.

It took him half a year, but he found a way out. Bet the old man regretted teaching him teleportation spells then.

He’d always intended to return, to have his siblings join him. They were more a family to each other than Hargreeves ever was. However, he needed time, four- _five_ months tops, to find the counter spells necessary to null each and every enchantment Hargreeves had cast. When he’d return it’d be for the last time.

Five never got the chance.

* * *

 

There is a young wizard lost to time. She stands in stone, an arm outstretched, never to move again. Faint magic energy radiates from her, the only sign she’s not completely dead.

There is a young wizard lost to time. He stumbles upon the statue, the immobile figure of the girl. He’s a month away from thirteen, a child in a childless time.

An old plague lies before her with a year inscribed, with a name etched in above it. Unable to return home, Five Hargreeves, wizard of space and time, decides when he does leave, whenever that’ll be, he’ll take Dolores with him. He’ll save the girl trapped in stone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next: Chapter 4, Number 4


	4. Corner Table

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ‘Tis the chapter where these ‘verses merge & create something new, so we can still have our troubled #4.

~~****~~ **Year 799**

He’s in another shady bar on the outskirts of Fiore.  

The town lacks a guild, but there’s enough mages present to warrant the creation of one. Of course, Klaus doubts one will ever move in. Despite the large amount of magic-users roaming about, he knows half are independent or already aligned to a guild. The other half? Mages from dark guilds, criminals, folks wanting to disappear, to escape the gaze of the Magic Council. Which was easy enough here, it being a port town.

He’s in another shady bar, habitually drowning himself in alcohol, his left arm hooked up to an SE plug. It’d been years since he took on any job remotely legal, but a mage had to feed themselves eventually. He’d like to take credit for coming up with the brilliant idea, but the black market trade in bottled magic power was already in it’s infant phase when he stumbled upon it as a teenager.

When someone asked years ago if he wanted a try, his answer was immediate. He had magic to spare, dear ‘ole dad made sure of that. Besides, it wasn’t like he was using it. Better to have enough jewel to stay warm in the winter and keep drink in his glass than a full charge of energy he’d never use.

He’s in another shady bar when word reaches him. _Passed away in his sleep. Presence requested at the funeral. Hargreeves Estate._  Gotta give it to the man for having preprogrammed tracking lacrima.

Klaus runs a hand through his hair. He could ignore it, avoid the whole charade entirely. _Or..._  Or he could attend, see his siblings, piss on the bastard’s grave. Usually one would feel loss at the passing of a parent and/or guardian, but the man hadn’t been a part of Klaus’ life for close to a decade. _Good riddance_. Ishgar was grieving for Hargreeves more than his own children.

He considers his options, wonders how his ridiculously huge estate and innumerable assets will be divided.

He unclasps the wrist wrap, shakes out his left arm.

Klaus has a funeral to attend.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Self Energy (SE) Plugs are used to power vehicles in the FT ‘verse. Figured why not use them to distribute bottled magic power?
> 
> Thanks for reading & supporting this guilty pleasure AU of mine!
> 
> Next: Eudora & Diego


	5. New Mage in Town

** Year 791 **

Eudora Patch is the strongest mage Diego knows, and that includes his father. Putting aside her raw power, Eudora’s sheer determination and sharp mind are enviable in their own right.

Eudora’s the first one to approach him after he joins the guild. Night Fang’s one of the best in Fiore, and Diego wasn’t about to join just any group. Rumor has it the current guild master took down an entire dark guild on their own a few years back. With the guild’s high ranking and that rumor, it didn’t take much more to convince Diego to finally check their closest location out.

He enters through the front doors, stays close to the perimeter as he walks, his eyes scan the spacious layout. He tries not to draw attention to himself, keeps his face forward, so when he feels someone suddenly tap his shoulder he’s rightfully startled. He never even heard them approach. The dagger he keeps in his belt is in his hand in an instant as he spins around, on guard. 

There stands a mage he quickly grows to know as Eudora Patch. The wizard raises her hands, palms out. Curiosity shines in her eyes. “New here?”

Diego lowers his weapon, shifts his weight. “That obvious?”

“Very.” She looks him up and down, notices the lack of an obvious mark. _(She wouldn’t find one. Not while he wore long sleeves.)_  She makes an educated presumption. “Looking to join?”

“And if I was?” Who was this woman?

“I’d say you make a shit stealth mage.”

“I don’t practice stealth magic.”

She smiles at that. “Could have fooled me with that getup.”

All at once, Diego’s both insulted _(he takes pride in his functional, but comfortable, black attire)_ and keenly interested in the mage before him.

Diego’s lack of immediate response must tell her something because the next thing he knows she’s sticking out a hand his way.

“Patch. Eudora Patch.”

He clasps her hand, meets her eyes as they share a firm shake. It’s a sign, a start of something. He just doesn’t know what, yet.

“Diego. Just Diego.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next: Allison Plays a Game


	6. From Then to Now

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please note I’m changing their ages from TUA’s timeline to better fit the pace of this AU. Also, this might be my favorite chapter to date. Enjoy!

** Year 780 **

When she’s five years old, nearing six, Allison asks her brothers to play knights. It’s a game they’ve played a few times before, but this time she manages to convince all of her siblings to participate. Vanya’s the dragon, and she the captured princess. Klaus complains that he wants to be the princess, but Allison informs him there can’t be two. Luther and Diego knock shoulders trying to claim the title, Captain of the Knights. Ben and Five reluctantly agree to participate, but on the condition Ben can play a pirate and Five a scholar.

“What’s a scholar?” Vanya asks, her hands behind her back, feet turned inward. The shyest of Allison’s siblings, the first time Vanya played the dragon, Allison was surprised how well she acted the part. Vanya’s played dragon ever since.

“Someone who knows everything.”

Diego snorts at Five’s explanation, but Klaus frowns. “You can’t be yourself. We’re playing knights!”

Allison stamps her foot, draws everyones’ attention back to her. “Knights was _my_ idea.” She reminds them. “Six you can be a pirate, and Five you can be a schooler.” Five huffs a, “It’s scholar,” but Allison ignores him. “Four, you are a knight. Two, you can be Captain of the Knights.” Luther throws his arms in the air before he angrily crosses them. Diego sticks his tongue out at him, victorious.

“ _I_ wanted to be captain.”

“ _Two_ is captain. _You_ are the prince.”

“Prince?”

Allison nods at his interest. “The prince rescues the princess.” She sees her brother mull it over before he offers her a wide smile.

“Let’s play knights!” Luther yells enthusiastically. With One on board, they quickly begin the game. It’s the best game of knights Allison’s ever played.

As an adult, looking back, she wonders what her dad saw that day. What made him think his Number Three was the best choice to receive an illegal charm lacrima implant? To learn mind control? Dispell magic? If she never put her foot down, never demanded a magic of her own choosing, never left as a teenager... what else would he have forced upon her?

On that day, how did Sir Reginald Hargreeves see a master of manipulation when all Allison did was be herself... just a young girl playing an imaginary game with her siblings.

* * *

 

**Year 792 - Year 799 **

Allison meets Patrick when she’s eighteen. He’s a wizard interning at Sorceror Weekly. She’s the next big thing in the world of modeling. They’re engaged four months later, married within two. The following year, they’re a family of three, tiny Claire the light of Allison’s life.

She’s the happiest she’s ever been, and that realization shakes her to her core. After Five and Ben... Allison never thought she’d ever feel this genuinely happy or joyful again. This feeling, this family she’s built for herself... she doesn’t want to lose it.

However, as with all good things in her life, Allison eventually corrupts them. Nothing lasts forever, not for her.

A year to the day when everything fell apart, Allison finds herself in a nondescript building, home to an underground healing mage.

She drops a single bag of jewel on the wooden table past the front door. “There’s two more if you can do as you claim.”

She’s removing Dad’s lacrima, the insidious black magic flowing through her veins, if it’s the last thing she does alive. Even if she has to cut herself open by her own hand.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next: Books & Ben & a Bad Beginning


	7. How it Starts

** Year 781 **

One of his earliest memories is peeking around one of the many doors inhabiting Hargreeves Mansion to spy his dad reading from a great tome. Above the great mage floated sentences and symbols, languages young Ben knew nothing of. When Grace introduced them to reading, Ben was the most eager, staring upon the first reader Mom handed him with a child’s reverence.

He and Five picked up reading the fastest, both even going beyond to read outside learning times. Vanya enjoyed reading, but found writing to be her preferred hobby, in addition to music. Allison mostly read magazines, eyes glued to the beauty shots of mages and people. 

“What do you do when you’re done?” Klaus peered over his shoulder, glanced at the written words. Then he leaned away to look back at Ben.

Ben answered as he marked his current page. “I start another book.”

“Going to read all of Dad’s books?”

Ben shrugged, unsure. “I think Five wants to.”

Klaus hummed at that. “Sounds like Five.”

After that, Klaus tried to read more, but he rarely finished anything. Eventually, he stopped starting, too. Ben learned years later his brother never wanted the worlds he visited through fiction to end. Even as a kid, Klaus never did much enjoy endings... goodbyes.

When their father began training them in magic, Ben recalled how reading and writing could be spells. _That_ was the magic he wanted to learn.

He tried to tell his dad so, but never received the chance. Sir Hargreeves would either dismiss him before he could speak or was off with one of his other siblings. Ben wondered if he'd ever learn anything beyond the simple spells Dad and Grace taught them.

He didn't have to wonder for long. The day everything changed was just like any other. In the calm of the afternoon, Ben relaxed in the library, a short chapter book in hand. It was only his fourth or fifth, but Mom had smiled encouragingly, promised to pick up some more for her, "little reader."

Without warning, a panicked Klaus rushed into the room, screaming in fear. Ben was alert instantly. He dropped his book and sprung up from his seat.

"Four! What's wrong?"

Klaus ran to stand behind Ben, his body trembled. Ben wanted to be afraid. He should have been, but his brother was fraught with terror already. Klaus needed a hero. _Not_ more fear.

"There's a really angry spirit! They said they'd eat us! They're going to kill us!"

At the time, Ben knew very little on the mechanics of magic, even less on his brother's Legend of City. But he knew he believed Klaus. If Klaus saw it, it must be real.

Ben was starting to get really scared, but he only stood taller, stuck his arms out on either side of him. He'd fight the spirit, even if Klaus couldn't.

Ben never saw the demonic soul enter the room, but he did hear Klaus' breathing hitch, then grow more erratic. He wanted to scream, but didn't want to blow out Ben's ears doing so.

Ben never saw the demonic soul enter the room or charge towards them. It was after Klaus, but to reach his target, the spirit had to go through Ben first.

The demonic soul phased into Ben. Upon contact, Ben's entire body grew cold and a magic circle erupted from his chest, formed itself in the air directly before him. Klaus let out a bloodcurdling scream. It took Ben a few seconds to realize he was screaming, too. Ben's eyes rolled into the back of his head, and his body fell limp to the floor, a puppet with cut strings.

The demonic soul phased into Ben.

It never left.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next: Young Seven


	8. Remnants

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments & Kudos are greatly appreciated.

** Years 778 - 780**

At three years old and five months, she’s taken from the only home she’s known. Her present becomes her past. Her memories fade into flashes of a familiar, white warmth, the phantom feel of cool, smooth scales against her skin. With age and time, she forgets more, but never once relinquishes the truth she knows within her own bones.

At three years old, five months, and two days, she’s introduced to One, Two, Three, Four, Five, Six. Her siblings. In under two years’ time, no one recalls Seven’s separate arrival to the academy. They’re One, Two, Three, Four, Five, Six, Seven. They are siblings. Without Seven they wouldn’t be the same. She was just another infant acquisition. No one recalls the day she joined, but the past has a way of living beyond memory.

Seven is a shy child, introverted, and taciturn. She is easy to convince, the first to help or participate if asked. She is not often asked. She doesn’t remember her siblings not immediately welcoming her with open arms, her genuine surprise and delight at meeting kids like her. Nor does she remember the tantrums she threw for the following weeks, demanding to see Nana, her Nana. Instead, she thinks she’s always been this way. Growing up, she ignores the nameless ache in her heart, the constant sense of loss. Doesn’t know why they’re there, nor what she’d do if she ever attempted to address them.

At five years old, Seven plays knights for the first time. During her fourth, she is cast as the dragon by Three. Her sister’s impressed, recasts her as the dragon for every game afterwards. Seven’s unsure why she imitates a dragon the way she does, roars or growls with such conviction and dedication. Five’s impressed, too. Tells her so himself.

“If dragons were real, I think-”

She turns to him, frowns, furrows her forehead in confusion. “Dragons are real.”

Five opens his mouth to argue, pauses upon seeing his sister’s earnest conviction. “How do you know?” He eventually asks, instead.

With age and time she forgets of Nana, her guardian, protector. However, never once does she relinquish the truth she knows within her own bones.

She shrugs. “I just do.” Five accepts her answer without further inquiry. Due to being convinced or a mere refusal to upset her, she never knows, but knowing Five, Seven suspects he never did fully believe like her. Five always wanted evidence, some form of proof.

The topic comes up more after that, until each of her siblings hear her truth. Six doesn't comment, returns to his book. Four drawls out a long "sure." Two rolls his eyes, tells her to go play games with someone else. One is skeptical, makes a silly excuse to end their conversation short. Three squeals in excitement, finds her last, most likely after hearing from One. Three asks her questions, is her only sibling genuinely interested, the only to believe her word. However, Three wants to know more, wants to know where and how she saw one. Seven's memories have escaped her by then. She replies she doesn't know, hasn't seen one. Without the answers Three seeks, Seven's word alone is no longer strong enough to convince her.

For Number Seven, the existence of dragons is an irrefutable fact, a truth held within her bones, her very being. She wonders why her siblings don’t feel the same.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next: Hargreeves’ wards turn four.


	9. Glitch in her System

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Machias are living machines introduced in the final volumes and episodes of FT. Sound familiar? ;)

** Year 778 **

Her children turn four years old. Mothering seven young, vibrant spirits each born on the same date makes preparing for the event all the easier. She cooks a simple meal, prepares appropriate portions for each of the growing kids. Table set, she next brings each downstairs, sits them around the long table. Their father is absent, attends to a prior commitment. One through Seven look at her quizzically, glance to one another, back to her. Usually their nannies didn’t stay for meals (as their father made Pogo oversee them then instead), nor did they ever dress or smile like her.

“Who- who a-are you?” Two asks cautiously.

Her programmed smile widens. She softens her face.

“Children, I’m your mother.”

One immediately shoots his arm up.

“Yes, dear?”

“We have a dad not a mom.” He states.

“Yes, you do,” she agrees, “but now you have a mom, too.”

The children stare at her wide-eyed. It is Four and Two who break the silence first. Four whoops in excitment, and Two gives a toothy grin. At their enthusiasm, Three and Seven offer smiles of their own.

“Can we c-c-call you M-mom?”

She’s not imbued with fire magic. She’s immune to both pain and lightning. She lacks the ability to taste or smell. She is both mechanical and living, but there’s no human heart inside of her core. And yet... when Two asks, when she sees the hope in his eyes, the faces of his siblings... she thinks there’s a glitch within her impeccable making.

For a single second, she feels a warmth she’s never felt before. At least, she suspects it was a warmth... _~~a mother’s love.~~_

Her smile is more genuine this time, less performance. She looks upon each of her children, the seven apples of her eyes.

“Of course, you may, Two. Each of you may.”

On her children’s fourth birthday, she becomes their mother. Throughout the years, Grace holds onto the memory of this birthday the most. The day she became more than another aimless machine. The day she became Mom.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next: Five leaves at the age of twelve.


	10. First to Go

**Year 787**

Five leaves the estate in the dark of night. He promises Vanya and Ben he’ll return in a few months, once he’s certain he can take each of them with him. He tells them he’s playing the role of scout. Vanya bites her lip, looks at her feet. Ben stands straighter, tries to hide his worry. Five sneaks out an hour later.

He never returns.

The day they turn thirteen, their father informs them to put aside their emotions. Five would never return, was most likely deceased. Death, the consequence for his foolish and disrespectful actions. Yet, Sir Hargreeves requests the making of a portrait almost immediately after their birthday. The painting hangs as a constant reminder of his lost ward, the boy with such potential, with a mind that might have rivaled the brightest. If he knew prior how Five would repay him for his teachings, his leniency, Hargreeves wouldn’t have allowed the young mage such freedom, such trust. It came as no surprise to the remaining six wards, when Hargreeves grew stricter and more critical with each of them. He wouldn’t be caught unaware or embarrassed like that again.

Vanya cries for weeks, alone in the safety of her dark bedroom. Ben withdraws into himself for the next few months. They feel a mixture of loss and hurt. There’s no evidence their brother’s dead, but he has yet to contact them, to return. If one suspects they’ve been betrayed is it better to accept reality or bury the friend they knew under the theory of death? Neither knew.

Allison seeks comfort in Luther, him in her. Diego throws his energy, his grief, into training. Exhausts himself to the point his thoughts are whispers, easily ignored and pushed aside.

Klaus attempts repeatedly to reach his brother’s spirit. After it’s clear Five’s not haunting the immediate area around the mansion, he tries to stretch his presence further distances. Grits through the ache and tightness in his chest, the nausea in his stomach. Eventually, he begins asking the spirits that flock towards him whether they’ve seen Five, a know-it-all spatial mage, his brother. He asks if they’ve seen him among the living, among the dead.

They never give him the answer he wants... Klaus never knows what answer that is.

Five never returns. The dream of joining a wizard guild together, going on quests, meeting other teens their age... It dies after they turn thirteen. Five was never coming back for them.

It isn’t until they’re twenty-four, brought back together by the passing of Sir Reginald Hargreeves, when they stop to think back to their brother Five’s absence. Perhaps... it was never that he didn’t want to return, instead, maybe Five couldn’t.

It isn’t until they’re twenty-four, brought back together by the passing of Sir Reginald Hargreeves, when Five finally returns.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next: Klaus returns home.


	11. The Funeral: Part I

** Year 799 **

His first stop is to the bar in the front room. Reggie’s spirit hadn’t shown once since he stepped foot on the property, but Klaus wasn’t going to risk a surprise visit by the man if he could help it. Alcohol wouldn’t be enough, but it was a start. He pours himself a glass, downs it like water. He takes the bottle with him afterwards. Sips from it as he moves from room to room.

He reaches Dad’s study. The door’s closed, but with a quick jiggle, reveals to be unlocked. A thrill of excitement shoots through him. Klaus pushes the door open, enters Hargreeves’ once sacred space.

_Must be something of value here._

He finishes the bottle, tosses it to the side as he hurries to get behind Reggie’s desk. It rolls before stopping under a side table.

What was the great Wizard Saint, Sir Reginald Hargreeves hiding in here? His compassion? Failed lacrima? Plans for the conquest of Ishgar? Klaus highly doubts that one. Hargreeves hadn’t been seen publically for nearly ten years, and only rarely before then. One would need to leave their room to properly take over an entire continent.

Allison finds him there fifteen minutes later. He’s thrown papers around the room, left drawers open, and messed with Dad’s cup of pens and quills. Just to spite the old jerk.

He pops up, settles himself in Dad’s chair. Allison is as lovely as ever. Klaus never did mind her eye trick, still doesn’t. He converses with her without any hesistance. She lets out a half laugh at his insulting impersonation of their late father. Doesn’t attempt a single spell during their conversation. Something seems... off to him, but then Luther joins them, and Klaus forgets to ask after his sister’s well-being. He doubts she’d tell him anyways. Now Luther... Klaus knows there’s a story there. His brother was always more muscular than the rest of them, but now he just appeared... disproportionately huge, bulky. What’d he do? Cast take-over on the largest forest Vulcan he could find? Did he take a steady diet of ethernano these past few years?

Klaus makes his way out of the room, shoots a shadow Luther’s way when his brother attempts to hold him up. Luther backs off, scowls at the dark magic. Luther never did much like the magic Dad taught Klaus, at least that’s one thing the brothers have in common.

“Ta-ta! Auf wiedershen!” He leaves the two alone, grins as he exits with his pockets still full of various trinkets.

He makes his way upstairs next. He has a closet to raid and a library to visit. As he reaches the second floor, he hopes there’s still a few homemade concoctions hidden away in his old bedroom because he’s going to need more than liquor to get through this morbid family reunion.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next: Part II - Hugs are given.


	12. The Funeral: Part II

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It is not explicitly stated (or hinted/mentioned) in this chapter, but I’d like y’all to know that Pogo’s an Exceed in this AU. Exceeds are cats in FT with the ability to perform basic magic (specifically aera, a spell granting the caster wings for flight). Ex. Happy from FT

** Year 799 **

He’s dressed in black, the only show of respect he’ll offer the man whose name he bears. His long sleeves cover the black Night Fang mark on his right arm and the burn scar on the inside of his left wrist. There’ll be a time and place to share both with his siblings, but he’d rather skip certain questions his first day back.

Diego enters the mansion and is greeted by silence. He makes his way upstairs, wanting to speak with Mom first before any of his siblings. He moves his jaw around when he finally notices how tense his mouth’s gotten. _He’s gone. He’s dead._  Out of habit he reaches for his belted dagger, the mere fact it’s there enough to recenter him. _Think it, and you’ll speak it._

The last time he was here was over two years ago. He recalls his body reacting the same way then, too. Thankfully, he didn’t run into Dad during that visit, the man too busy to leave his study. At the time, Diego was in the town over for a job. When he and Beaman finished up, he decided to take advantage of the situation and check-in on Mom. He thought he’d run into Luther, but Pogo, their father’s assistant (and closest thing to a friend), informed him his brother was away for a mission.

“Diego, dear.”

His mother’s voice draws him away from his memories. He blinks, clears his head. His shoulders begin to relax. Even years later, she still had the ability to make him feel lighter.

She’s the same as he saw her nearly two and a half years ago, the same as the day she brought them down for their fourth birthday. He knows on some level she’s a Machias, a living machine imbued with magic, but she’s never been a machine. Not to him.

In this moment, he doesn’t need armor, blades, or magic to feel safe. His walls briefly down, he smiles at his mother. She opens her arms, steps forward to embrace him. He meets her in the middle.

_“Hey, Mom.”_

* * *

 

She unconsciously picks at her left wrist, her growing nerves made physical. She can do this. She has to do this. She pulls her sleeve back down, covers up the guild mark tattooed on her wrist.

Bracing herself for anything, Vanya pushes open the door. She suspected the place to look somewhat similar, but she didn’t think it’d look exactly as it did when she left. With the front door closed, the smell hits her next. The entire mansion holds the same scent, and she’s immediately sent back to her childhood. She reaches an arm out to steady herself, her eyes shut in an attempt to slow her racing memories. She didn’t predict stepping foot inside would be what overwhelmed her. There’s some pleasant moments, but most of the images that flood her mind right then are ones she’d rather not resee or relive.

A hand suddenly grips her’s, another holds her other arm. “Vanya?” _Allison._ “Are you alright?”

Vanya’s eyes fly open, and she sees her sister’s concerned face. Allison’s slightly bent to reach her eye level.

_Breathe_ _. In, one, two, three. Out, one, two, three._

“Yeah, yeah, I’m ok.” Allison doesn’t look convinced. Vanya counts herself out another breath. She’s relieved to find the air less oppressive than it was only a moment ago. “It’s-,” she waves her free hand, glances around them. “A lot,” finishes Allison.

“Yeah.”

When Allison lets go of her, she thinks her sister’s about to leave, and Vanya resigns herself to being left behind once more. However, instead of abandoning Vanya at the first opportunity, her sister hugs her. She thinks Ben’s funeral was the last time she’d hugged her sister and Allison her. _They were fifteen._ At that realization, reality becomes too much for her. Vanya tightly wraps her arms around Allison, buries her face in her chest. Allison makes no comment or move to stop her when the tears begin to fall.

* * *

 

Five checks the link connecting him with Dolores one more time before he’s satisfied. If this- _when_  this works, he doesn’t want to lose her in the trip. He was good, _better than good_ , but even for him it’d take a while to shift through every potential time to find her again.

He gets on his knees, places his hands on the cool ground. He conjures forth his largest magic circle, repeats the spell and calculations in his head. Dolores’ energy joins him through the bond. He feels his hair rise, the ground crack beneath them. Loose rocks float upwards. _It’s not enough!_ Five grits his teeth, digs his fingers into the dirt, clings to the jagged stones mixed in. He shoves everything he has into the spell, borrows more of Dolores’ power. Something changes. He feels the shift in his magic, the shift in her’s. In his mind’s eye there’s no longer two sources of energy. There’s one. _Knew you were there, Dolores!_  Rocks circle them in the air, debris falls from the ceiling. The entire place begins to shake apart. His palms cut open, and his hands begin to bleed.

“Unison Raid!” shouts Five. “Timelock Release!”

A blinding light fills the cavern... and they’re gone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next: Part III - Ben's still dead.


	13. The Funeral: Part III

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Finally wrote something for this in word, so this is on the longer side. Thanks for dropping by. I hope y'all enjoy. ^u^

** Year 799 **

“How have you been?”

Allison’s question takes Vanya by surprise. She looks up from her lap, and sees Allison’s taken the space beside her on the couch.

“Ok.” At Allison’s slight frown, she continues. “Good, actually. I joined a guild.” Her sister smiles at that, and Vanya thinks she might be genuinely interested. Before Allison can ask which guild, Diego scoffs from the couch opposite them.

“If a guild accepted you, they must have been desperate.”

“And what’s up your ass?” Allison bites back. “I don’t see you sporting a mark.”

Vanya keeps quiet as her siblings argue, begins to absentmindedly mess with her left sleeve. Diego wouldn’t want to hear from her anyways.

Diego rests his arms on his legs as he bends forward. “Sorry to disappoint, but unlike our sister, I’m a member of an actual wizard guild. Night Fang. S-Class.” The satisfaction he feels from his sisters’ expressions is priceless. He thought Allison would have heard already that he’d joined Night Fang. She worked for Sorcerer Weekly and traveled with a theatre troupe during half the year. However, knowing his sister, it doesn’t come as a surprise to learn she hadn’t actively kept tabs on him (or any of them) since leaving the estate.

Allison huffs in response, refuses to congratulate him. She turns back to Vanya, pats her sister’s thigh. “Where were we?”

Diego didn’t show them his mark, and they didn’t ask. However, Vanya feels the need to prove her own membership. Her word alone isn’t enough. She slides up her sleeve, shows Allison her inner left wrist. There stares back her light gray guild mark, the symbol of all Lunar Melody mages.

* * *

 

Luther suspects foul play.

 _Of course he does_ , mentally groans Diego. It’s not enough that the guy dies and the council is undertaking their own investigation. No, Luther wants to take matters into his own hands because _he couldn’t have just died. He was a Wizard Saint, the Number One Wizard Saint._

“People die, Luther. Wizards die. This was going to happen eventually.”

“You weren’t here, Diego. You don’t know-”

He points his knife at him, his eyes hard. “You weren’t here either, Luther, so don’t act like you know more than any of us.”

Luther sets his jaw at that, closes his hands, opens them. “I was here the longest.”

“And whose fault is that?”

“Diego,” starts Luther, but Allison cuts him off. “Will you two stop?”

“Or what? _You’ll make us?_ ” Diego’s words are acid down her throat. _He speaks of the past, not of the now._ But it doesn't make his words any less true. She glares at him, fuels her hurt into anger. “You’re being a dick on purpose.”

“What else is new?” Klaus’ voice drifts from the bar behind them. Of course their brother was raiding their dad’s collection. Allison fights back a groan, while Diego sheathes his dagger.

“Klaus, that’s not yours’.” Luther reprimands.

“Oh, brother, but it isn’t dear Dad’s. For,” he takes a seat in one of the empty chairs, waves the bottle around by its neck, “the old fart is dead. Deceased. Passed on. No longer kicking.” He pops the cap, throws back a long swig.

This is the first time Vanya’s seen Klaus in… she can’t remember. He looks thin, pale, about the same as he did while they grew up. She thinks she sees bruises in the crook of his arms, but she’s not close enough to confirm one way or the other. He still has the mark Father gave her siblings when they were ten, but now he has the words Hello and Goodbye tattooed on his palms, one word per hand. She wonders if he has other tattoos elsewhere. She wonders if he has a place to go back to after the funeral.

“Show some respect. He was our father,” Luther snaps. Klaus flips up Goodbye at him and returns to drinking.

* * *

 

Ben’s statue tumbles from the force of Luther crashing into it. Vanya cringes at the sight, at the sound of her deceased brother’s head breaking off from his body. Despite knowing it isn’t really her brother, never was Ben, she still feels queasy.

Pogo shakes his head at the disappointing development, turns away from the boys. He offers his paw to Mom and leads her back inside.

Klaus stands behind Vanya, off to the side. He eggs the two on, but immediately goes silent when Luther falls into their brother’s memorial. Allison shouts, yells at them to take it somewhere else. Her voice reaches deaf ears. Vanya can’t help but wonder why she doesn’t use her mind control spell Dad taught her to make them quit. Growing up, it seemed like Allison was always casting something around one of them, whether it was her eyes hypnotizing one under her control or the sudden willingness to do something for her that washed over you, result of her charm lacrima. She can’t say she misses either, but it’s… odd, seeing Allison go so long without casting something.

Diego’s swords disappear, and he takes a step back. He’s breathing heavy, but looks ready to go again on a dime. His eyes focus on the ruined statue. Luther pushes himself up. Diego meets his eyes, holds his ground. “Going easy on me, Number One?”

Yeah, the memorial’s in pieces, the drizzle’s becoming a rain, but he could do this as long as his brother. Neither of them ever did communicate much with words. Apparently, that’s still the case today.

Luther’s jacket is ripped, the fabric pulls as he moves his arms, reveals the ugly reality underneath. He covers the largest tear with one of his hands, and hurridly makes his way out of the courtyard. Luther’s not even fully inside, the door still open, when the wind outside begins to shriek. He turns back around, as his concern overrides all else.

Diego’s backed up, and Klaus has moved in front of Vanya. Allison looks ready to strike at a single movement. When a massive magic circle appears before them, they all take a step back, move into defensive stances.

 _Requip!_ Diego’s clothes are replaced with his everyday armor, and five swords take their place in the air behind him. His arm coverage is not continuous, a change he made after joining Night Fang. His jet black guild mark proudly sits on his right arm, clear for the world to see.

Vanya has her hands out to either side of her, keeps them low, but ready to move on a whim. They glow as a white aura surrounds them. Before her stands Klaus with several short, shadows stretching from his feet. With the dreary weather, there shouldn’t be any shadows out, but Klaus’ magic never relied on something as temperamental and fleeting as weather. Her brother can conjure them forth from himself. She glances to her sister, sees fairy wings have sprung out from Allison’s back, but they stay still.

No one knows who cast the circle, who or what may appear from it. They have to be ready for anything. Everything begins to shake, and a giant crack forms, leaving behind a jagged line straight through the courtyard. The magic circle pulses with light, with energy. Luther’s made his way back, stands beside Klaus and Allison. Everyone notices the obvious lack of a take-over on his part, but no one speaks. The shrieking grows shrill, the light brightens to a blinding degree. And just as suddenly as it began, the magic circle vanishes, the spell finishes.

No one moves initially, but then the image before them completely registers in their minds. There’s a statue of a young girl, most likely early to mid-teens, now standing in the destroyed courtyard. Nobody recognizes her, but they all gasp upon seeing the breathing figure on the ground beside her.

There, on the grass and stone, covered in dirt, dust, and blood, is their brother. Their long-lost brother.

Number Five.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next: There’s no training for saying goodbye.


	14. How it Ends

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I didn’t think Hargreeves naming them the Umbrella Academy worked in this au, so as an alternative, I have selected Elegit Deus, or God Chose/Chosen. Fitting, no? If you’re familiar with verb conjugation for Latin, please let me know in a comment whether I need to make a change to, “elegit.” Guild mark pictures will be coming soon (for those who like visuals.) ^u^
> 
> On another note, this chapter does introduce a character from FT, the demon Ezel. Please know I don’t view this as a x-over, so there’ll never be a point in time where the UA sibs meet Natsu’s gang. Instead, I’m merely introducing various villains/antagonists from FT canon when the plot demands it. Ezel is a demon with six tentacles and four arms. His curse (not magic) power gives him the ability to turn his arms into blades.
> 
> Fair warning: This chapter deals with death and sacrifice. Aligns with TUA theory, canon TUA violence, and canon FT violence.
> 
> Thanks for reading.

**Year 799**

No one mentions Ben, and Five doesn’t immediately ask.

After his and Dolores’ shaky arrival, he collapsed, his limbs completely exhausted. Vanya and Allison rushed him first. He knew where he was, as the courtyard and mansion were images forever engraved in his mind. However, it took him a moment to adjust to the _time_. He focused on Allison’s Elegit Deus mark as she approached and bent down to help Vanya lift him. No one beyond his siblings bore that symbol. At everyone’s vocal concern and callings of Five, he knew. He was finally back, free, _but the time was wrong._

His siblings were older, all now adults, but he was still physically the same as the day he left. He clenches his hands into fists, pushes down the frustration and anger beginning to boil within. This was  _their_ fault. Five knows he and Dolores are safe presently, but it won’t last. They’ll find them eventually. _Unless, we find them._  

His siblings eventually move him inside, ask after his health, his whereabouts, his appearance. He offers what he can, what’s safe for them to hear. He asks after their father, the awkward silence that follows answers his inquiry. He falls heavy into the chair Allison pulls up for him. Dead. The great mage, their father, was- _is_ dead.

No one mentions Ben, and Five doesn’t immediately ask. He saw the broken statue outside, stared at the foreign yet eerily familiar sculpted face. He pieces it together on his own.

Later, in the hours of late night and early morning, alone with Vanya, he finally allows himself to ask. _What happened?_

The question pains her, but she replies, soft and sad. “There was a mission...”

Five listens, curses himself for not being there. He swears to not make the same mistake twice.  _I’m here now. No one else is going to die._ He won’t allow it.

* * *

 

** Year 790 **

Father sends the two of them, states no one else is necessary. Of the seven siblings, only Luther and Ben practiced the same magic. Oh, they all knew similar spells, the basics of magic theory, but only Luther and Ben knew Take Over magic. Father sends the two of them, says their power alone will be enough. They think it’ll be easy.

It isn’t.

In the midst of battle, Luther loses himself to the mountain giant’s soul. Ben shouts for him to fight back, to remember himself. Ezel’s voice whispers inside his mind, and Ben feels the demon’s growing restlessness. _Let me. We can stop him. Together._

Since that fateful day years ago, Ezel’s demonic spirit has been with him. Ben’s gained a few more, ordered to by his father, but Ezel has always been more present, vocal, _agitated_ , than the others in Ben’s possession. The two had an unspoken understanding. Ezel never wanted to be trapped within Ben. Ben never wanted the ability to possess demonic souls.

_You know I’m right._

Ben grits his teeth, refuses to call forth Ezel against his brother. Even during mandatory trainings, Ben would refuse to summon him. (That is until his father would threaten to punish him or his siblings for his disobedience.) Ezel’s bloodthirsty, always has been, and he can’t always control him, not like the others.

Luther’s not showing any sign of snapping out soon. If he doesn’t act, his brother’s going to cause more damage than the giant did.

“Luther! I don’t want to hurt you! You have to control him!”

The monster, _his brother_ , turns towards him and roars. Giant Luther grips a nearby tree and uproots it with a single pull. Ben shoots out his right arm and quickly writes out SHIELD. He ducks behind the glowing barrier that forms just as Giant Luther chucks the tree. When Ben glances up, he sees there’s another in his hand, ready to fire.

_You can’t keep this up._

“Shut up!”

He casts shield after shield, draws Luther away from the town, further into the forest. He knows it’s not enough.

Before Luther cast Take Over, they’d both been halfway through their energy. There’d been five dark mages, one of them a beast tamer, that they took out first, but not before the beast tamer called forth thirty or so creatures. Unfortunately, the mountain giant was a result of that spell.

Luther had looked him straight in the eye and ordered him to stay back.

“You haven’t attempted a full-body take over on a giant before! What if you can’t handle it?!”

“I’m _Number One_ , Ben! Dad didn’t send us to fail!”

“If you’ll just hear me-”

“That’s enough, Six!”

_Ben! Get up!_

Oh. When did he decide to lie down? Oh, shoot, why did everything hurt?

A gutteral, inhuman growl ripped through the air. _Luther!_

Unfortnately, his script magic was nowhere near as strong or advanced as his take over (result of only recently taking up script spells.) He recalls his last shield cracking apart on impact. He must have blacked out after that. He’s still alive, so he must not have been out for long.

Ben picks himself up, wobbles, but steadies himself. He is going to end this and get his brother back. He knows Luther would do the same if their roles were reversed.

All Ben can see for miles is the combined destruction from their previous fights and Giant Luther’s rampage. He can’t let this reach bystanders. (Ben knows he’s near his limit for magic power, but he doesn’t focus on this.)

He writes EXPLOSIONS, casts dozens, and hurls them at Giant Luther’s retreating back. The spell causes more annoyance than damage, but that’s what he needs. If he can get close enough, he can injure the giant, creating an opening for Luther to steal back control.

Ben doesn’t want to admit it, but he can’t do it alone. He thinks, defeatedly, he knew that since the start.

It was now or never.

“Take Over! Demon Soul: Ezel!”

* * *

 

Luther’s floating. He’s lost in a thick fog. Why is he here? How did he get here?

“Luther, reme- ourse-!” That voice... Why does it sound so familiar? “You have- ntrol him! Fi- ack!” Number Six. Ben. Ben is yelling at him. But why?

Oh, he’s throwing something. Feels heavy.

Wait. Something doesn’t feel right. Ben. Where is Ben?

Luther struggles to move through the fog. He has to find him. They came together. Have to leave together.

Where- where are they?

He thinks he hears his brother’s voice, but it’s muffled.

Dad... It's a mission. They’re on a mission. 

“Agghhh!” Pain flares in his back, heat licks at his skin.

What- what- where?

“Take Over! Demon Soul: Ezel!”

At the first strike of a sharpened blade, the fog shimmers. With each attack, the haze surrounding him thins until he’s completely free of its hold.

Everything floods back to him in crystal clarity.

Ben’s attacks keep coming, but Luther knows he alone can’t win.

“Take Over!” He yells. “Beast Soul!” The giant’s imposing dark spirit forces his spell back. _Again!_  “Take Over! Beast Soul!”

_“You are the captain of your own ship, Number One.”_

_“You must make the beasts bow to you.”_

_“Assert your authority, Number One!”_

_“Failure is weakness!”_

Luther was Number One. He couldn’t- _wouldn’t_ fail!

The giant roars as Luther thunders out the spell one last time. “Take Over! Beast Soul!”

* * *

 

Luther was trapped in his mind. The actions of the giant, of _him_ , during the rampage were complete unknowns to him. When he finally repossessed the mountain giant he regained his own consciousness, magic, and body.

The scene was... _awful_. He’d been so close to destroying the town he’d been sent to protect. At least here, in the wilderness, there was likely no casualties.

Cuts cover him, and his back stings. When had he gained these injuries? Crap! Where was Ben?

Luther hurried to his feet, searched for his brother. There! Ben stood behind him, caught in between a take over. Blue gray tentacles... Luther couldn’t tell if Ben was trying to cast the soul possession or vanish it.

“Ben! I’m ok!” Luther ran to stand before his brother. The closer he got the clearer Ben’s fear became. It was in his human eye, the sweat across his forehead, his caved in stance. Several tentacles darted out when Luther came too close. Ben shouted for him to run. The tentacles returned to their host, only to then recharge at Luther.

“Ezel!”

A magic circle erupted from Ben’s chest. The tentacles froze in midair.

**_“No! You can’t do this! We can be so much more!”_ **

The demonic voice that leaves his brother’s lips takes Luther by utter shock. He stands, unable to help Ben nor stop what is to come. He... _He is afraid._

“I’m ending this! I’m ending you!”

Ben had never intimidated Luther until then.

The tentacles formed wrapped themselves around Ben and squeezed. His neck and right wrist were trapped. His left arm, currently still under the control of Ezel, formed itself into a blade. His brother was fighting himself. No that wasn’t it. _Ben was tearing himself apart._

Luther stands, watches. Observes Ben’s magic circle morph into a square. Hears the demon curse his brother, bellow a cry of denial. Sees a few tears slowly flow from Ben’s right eye.

Fully formed, the magic square begins to glow brighter.

Luther recognizes the spell too late.

Ben meets his eyes, smiles at the sight of his brother safe. Ben says something, the action laborious from the tentacle wrapped around his too fragile human neck.

Luther can’t hear what he says over the ringing in his own ears.

There’s a snap. Ben’s wrist breaks, and his arm falls limp.

Ben smiles.

Ezel shrieks.

Time’s up. 

 

 

 

 

 

Ben’s Square of Self-Destruction detonates.

 

 

 

 

 

Luther _finally_ moves. He catches his brother’s falling body, pleads for him to come back.

 

 

 

 

 

Ben dies in Luther’s arms. Luther clutches his still form, weeps as his brother’s body dissolves into the air before his eyes.

 

 

 

 

 

Luther returns home alone.

 

 

 

 

 

* * *

 

Two weeks after Ben’s memorial service, Klaus packs a single bag and leaves the estate under the cover of night.

Ben’s ghost tags along.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next: The kids dream of the wizards they'll be.


	15. Young Dreams

** Years 780 - 781**

At the age of six, Klaus and his siblings began their magic studies. Most sessions were led by Pogo. Sometimes their mother would assist him. Their remaining lessons were taught by their father. As the weeks became months, they grew more excited, more attentive. These long days at desks and outside in the courtyard were necessary for them to become real wizards. They each knew there would be a day, a day very soon that their father would sit them down and let them choose what they wanted to practice.

There was a night, early in the third month, when the seven of them all gathered in Allison’s room late at night. Father was away, and neither Pogo nor Mom checked on them at that late hour.

Five brought in a large tome from the library to use as a guide for the impromptu sleepover. The pages were filled with names of different spells and types of magic. They each crowded around him on the bed, eagerly peered over one another to catch sight of the pictures and words.

“That one!” Klaus pointed excitedly.

Five paused his turning and returned to the page that caught his brother’s eye. “Holder Magic: Rings,” he read aloud. “Really?” Seemed boring, thought Five disinterested.

“Yes, really. I love rings.”

“Do you have rings?” Ben asked.

Klaus hummed, and then shook his head. “But I want rings now. They go on your hands, Six!”

“I see.”

Five flipped a few more pages. “This one uses keys. You summon,” he sounded out the next word before he continued, “cell-es-tea-all spirits.”

“Cell-what?” Diego scooted closer to see what Five was talking about.

“They help you on missions.”

Luther huffed. “Come on, Five. Show us something cool.” Allison lightly hit his arm at that request.

“I got the book, One. _Not_ you _._ ”

Their brother frowned at that. “Anyone can have _rings_ or _keys_.”

“I _know_ what magic I want to use. I got this for each of you.”

Vanya glanced up at Five. “You know already?”

He nodded and passed the book over to Allison and Diego to browse through. Klaus and Ben crawled behind him to join them. “Time." 

“Time?”

“Yeah, time magic lets you do loads of ‘ _cool things_.’” Klaus laughed at his impersonation of Luther. The others grinned. Luther just rolled his shoulders back and crossed his arms.

“My spells are going to beat time, Five.”

“Righttt, One,” assured Klaus.

The book was passed around more after that, each sibling got the chance to look through parts on their own. Ben shared that he knew what he wanted to practice already, but didn’t know the name. “Aha! Solid Script,” Ben immediately held the page up when he finally found it, elated to finally know. Klaus jumped from one kind to the next whenever a particular image would catch his fancy. Vanya mused about learning some form of sound magic.

Luther and Diego both argued over who would learn fire spells first. “We can’t both be fire wizards.” Diego rolled his eyes at his brother’s argument. “Yes, we can, One. Know why? Because my fire will be way hotter than yours.” The others decided against intervening, too invested in the tome. Besides, the two of them would sort it out as they always did.

Allison clapped in glee when she discovered requip spells. “Look at all these dresses!” Klaus and her squealed over those pictures for a while.

The night ended with them all yawning, as they eagerly shared ideas into the early hours of the next morning.

Five would be a time mage. Diego and Luther would be fire wizards, or one would practice ice-make magic to freeze the other’s spells. _(“You can’t freeze fire!” “Nuh-uh! My ice will be better than your stupid fire any day. I’ll freeze the sun!”)_ No one doubted that the two of them would excel in whichever they each settled on. Ben would be a famous writer and use his solid script magic to write his books. Vanya didn’t know for sure, yet. She liked music and thought that would be fun, but she also liked the details of sky magic. Klaus was in the same boat as Vanya, but for a different reason entirely. He liked them all. Five attempted to reason with him, but Klaus stubbornly stuck to his idea of learning them all. _(“I will be like Dad!” “Dad, doesn’t even know all of these.” “Then, I will be cooler than Dad.”)_ Allison wanted to change her clothes on a whim (and own a better wardrobe than their boring uniforms), so requip magic was what she proudly decided on.

Vanya began to drift off first. When Five noticed, he suggested they each get some rest. After all, Pogo wouldn’t be too pleased to find them outside of their rooms in the morning.

The day they dreamed of, spoke of in hushed voices and excited grins, finally arrived a month later. Their father came down to the mansion’s make-shift classroom and announced they would be starting individual lessons that week. No one spoke or shifted in their seats, too eager to risk jeopardizing their first private lesson. Their father lifted his cane and tapped on the ground once. “Number One, with me. Your training will begin today.”

Two through Seven were glued to One’s movements. Their brother rose from the desk and made his way to their father’s side. How many spells would he learn? How many spells _could_ you learn in an afternoon?

Sir Hargreeves and Luther returned at dinnertime. Conversation was strictly forbidden at meals, so everyone kept their questions to themselves. There would be time later.

Just like previous nights, after their caregivers were away, the children quietly pushed open their doors and traveled on soft feet to a predetermined destination. Five shut the door and joined everyone else on Luther’s bed. Several spoke at once, all eager to hear about his training and see what he could do. However, Luther didn’t seem as excited to share as they thought he’d be. He appeared slightly grumpy, but just looked like he’d smelt something really bad because he was trying so hard _not_ to appear upset.

“One?” Allison asked, gently reaching out to shake him from his head.

“Dad said I couldn’t choose.” The smiles his siblings wore a moment ago vanished at his news. “He said he knows what he wants us to be, and what he says goes.”

“But, it’s _magic_ ,” Klaus’ emphasis summed up how they all felt on the topic. “It should be fun.”

Luther gave a half shrug, unhappy, but unsure how to continue. The novelty of being the first of them to have a private lesson was wearing off. Now he was just tired.

Allison grabbed one of Luther’s hands and gave him an encouraging squeeze.

“Maybe it still will be,” she said hopeful.

No one pointed out the flaw in her optimism. It was _Dad_. Meals were boring due to his rules, and simply laughing in his presence was an unspoken way to be sent to your room for hours alone.

However, they each couldn’t stop themselves from holding onto their brother and sister’s words. Maybe they could still make these new individual lessons fun… maybe.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next: Despite life's changes, Luther stays.


	16. Changes

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah, this idea came out of nowhere. Thinking it may be better to return to Five (and the semi-plot) in the next chapter before returning to 1) Diego and Patch or 2) Klaus and introducing Dave (+ Ben). However, if either of those are povs you'd like to read first, just let me know, and I'll see what I can type up.

**Years 791 - 794**

Klaus left and then there were four. The night before they turned seventeen, Diego left. He wished Mom goodnight, promised to visit once he settled somewhere. Swung a single bag over his shoulder and walked out at the strike of midnight. About three months later, between the end of one year and the start of another, Allison announced her departure. Guild life and missions and carrying out Dad’s orders were never where her heart lied. She wanted, _needed_ more. She left on a sunny day, one where the lovely weather and temperature made it difficult to feel anything but optimistic. Vanya left with softly voiced farewells. She casually mentioned her intent to join a guild of her own like Two, but Luther wrote her off, and her father turned her away within minutes of her entering his office. Luther stayed.

Luther stayed and honed his magic. Days and nights were spent in quiet solitude. As the last active member of Elegit Deus, the elite team his father trained them to become, Luther traveled throughout Ishgar. He never stayed anywhere long, visiting somewhere only for the sake of the missions Dad assigned him. His siblings crossed his mind, from time to time, but he never acted on the urge he'd receive now and then to see them. They were the ones who left. He'd leave it to them to reach out first.

Four invitations arrived to the mansion, each addressed from Allison Hargreeves. Luther offered to drive Pogo, Dad, and Grace, but when the day arrived he attended his sister's wedding by himself. He briefly caught sight of Diego during the ceremony, but his brother was gone before Allison and Patrick left the church together. Klaus appeared during the cocktail hour. Luther considered approaching him, asking after him, but his brother never seemed to stay at one part of the rented space long enough for him to work up the courage. How does one approach a sibling they've not seen for three years? Besides, Klaus was the one who abandoned them. There was no telling what actually happened to Five, and Luther witnessed Ben's passing. But Klaus? Klaus had a choice and chose to run away. If he'd stayed... maybe things would have ended up differently.

Luther found himself at the same table as Vanya during the reception dinner. Their conversation was stilted and awkward. He thinks he saw a tattoo peek out from under her sleeve, but didn't probe after it. He wondered if she actually joined a wizard guild like she'd claimed she would, but he can't help but hear his father's words in his head. _Seven has not met the qualifications to join you._ If she couldn't earn their father's mark, then what guild would want a useless mage in their ranks? He kept those thoughts to himself. Attempted to enjoy sharing time with one of his siblings, but found the conversation had died before they finished their salads.

Allison found them between the entrée and dessert. She couldn't stay long, as the cake cutting would be happening any minute. Vanya and Allison hugged, shared well wishes with one another. Luther lost sight of Vanya afterwards. He suspected she left after the bride and groom had their first bites of cake. He offered his own hug after Vanya, told his sister how lovely she looked. Allison journeyed back to him a little later in the evening, asked for a dance with her oldest friend. Luther led as Allison followed, the evening reaching its end. He bent his head during a turn, softly congratulated her on the wedding. He'd never met Patrick beforehand, but Allison was happy. He would support her happiness.

The night concluded, and Luther made his way back to the estate. Maybe he'd try to reach out after all. Allison still liked him, still warmly embraced him despite the distance. Vanya was her usual kind, soft self. They didn't have much in common, but he'd take an hour with her over Diego or Klaus any day. Maybe he'd ask after that tattoo, too.

By the time things had settled down and returned to routine, his father once more requested Luther's presence on a mission.

When Luther opened his eyes a week after he left on assignment, his body drugged down with medicine and exhaustion, the last thing he ever wanted to do was see his siblings again. He didn't want anyone to see him like this.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next: Five and Vanya talk.


	17. Eight Minutes to Midnight

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Introducing *drumroll* an overarching plot. Five's time away will be further explored as I continue writing for this 'verse. For now, I've added a bit of clarification in the end notes.
> 
> Timeline Info: Following their conversation at the end of this chapter, Vanya shares with Five what happened to Ben (Chap. 14).
> 
> Thanks for following this passion project of mine. Kudos and comments are always appreciated. Enjoy!

**Year 799**

Five offers what he can, what's safe for them to hear. His siblings are older, all now adults, and he is still physically the same as the day he left twelve and a half years ago. He's aged while he's been gone, and he tells them that when they ask after his appearance. However, the spell he attempted as a kid had more than one consequence. Not only did he get stuck in the rift between time, but he never physically aged while trapped there. He suspects, now that he and Dolores are free, that he'll finally stop looking like a pre-teen.

His siblings are hesitant to believe anything he says in response to their questions, but he doesn't have time to walk them through it at the moment. Luther and Diego snap something at one another, and Five raises from the seat he's in. "Nothings changed here then." That shuts his brothers up. Five leaves the downstairs kitchen, ignores Luther's calls to come back.

Vanya finds him outside by Dolores. The courtyard is a mess. Rubble from a destroyed memorial litters the ground. There's a pile of ashes dumped under a tree. He infers they're his fathers. Oh well. He never planned on seeing him again anyways. Those years spent lost in the rift between time, it was always the goal of returning to his siblings, and only his siblings, that got him through.

"Who is she?" Vanya stands behind him, keeps herself from reaching out a hand.

"Her name's Dolores. She was in the rift with me. Helped me get back here."

Vanya meets the stone eyes, wonders how it must have been for her brother to live over a decade alone.

Five interprets her silence as doubt. "She's alive, Vanya. We performed a unison raid together to leave there."

"She's a wizard?"

"A strong one. Whoever cast this curse did so to stop her."

"Stop her from..."

"I don't know."

 _How can you trust her?_ Vanya doesn't ask this. This wasn't the time to get into a potential argument. She just got her brother back.

Five holds one of Dolores' hands, gives her a reassuring squeeze before letting go. He turns around, faces Vanya.

"We need to talk, but not here."

"Your old room-" Five shakes his head at the suggestion.

"They'll expect me there. Come on," He extends an arm, an unspoken invitation. Vanya grips his hand and holds on tight. Five teleports them inside and upstairs. Vanya discovers he's taken them to her old childhood bedroom. It's the furthest from the others.

Vanya sits on her bed, rests her feet on the wooden floor. Five stands, paces now and then.

"We weren't alone, Dolores and I. There were others in the rift."

Whatever Five's about to tell her, she knows it's serious from his tone and stance. She unconsciously quiets her breaths, holds her gaze on her brother's figure. She doesn't want to risk mishearing anything.

"They call themselves the Temps Aeternalis. They're a dark guild, Vanya, and in eight days they're going to end the world."

There's a fire in her brother's eyes, an honesty she's unsure how to process at the moment. "How do you know?"

Five stops restlessly moving. He stares past her, sees only charred land, corpses upon corpses. For a moment the memory of smoke and ash fills his nostrils.

"I've seen it."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The rift between time is introduced in the final arc of Fairy Tail. There everything is frozen in time and colored in a blue hue. Powerful time wizards are not affected by the rift. Five ends up there after trying a spell he (/probably/) shouldn't have been attempting. His brief trip to the apocalypse occurs during his time trapped in the rift and will be explained later (once the *ahem* Handler makes her appearance).
> 
> Next: Vanya eats light, but it takes over a decade to learn why she can.


	18. Vanya

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If anyone’s interested, I’m planning to start a wonderland au soon for tua. Hoping to post the first chapter later tonight/tomorrow.

**Year 780**

Vanya discovers her magic before her father has the chance to pull her aside. Being Number Seven, Vanya is the last to see him and receive whatever training he's deemed appropriate. She’s outside with Three and Four. Five’s with their father. She hopes their dad’s assigned him time magic, but so far no one’s received what they wanted to pursue.

Her discovery happens by chance. It’s a bright day, and lunch was hours ago. Sir Hargreeves called it short, so in turn no one was able to finish eating. She’s under one of the trees, sits and listens to her brother and sister complain about their individual meetings with Dad. Vanya covers her eyes from the rays and gazes into the clear sky. If she were ever to see a dragon in flight today would be the best day to catch one. Minutes tick by and her eyes begin to water. She blinks a few times and looks down at the grass. Her stomach grumbles, and she can’t help but wish for a snack before dinner.

She breathes in through her nose and exhales from her mouth. Five said grass and plants grew not from ethernano but from the sun. She’d like to be a plant right about now. She could eat all day, any day, any time, and Dad couldn’t tell her to be quiet because she wouldn’t be at the table. She’d never have to eat at a table again if she didn’t want to. Three cracks a joke, and Four lets out a trill of laughter.

 _I want to be a tree._ Vanya ignores her siblings, and takes some courage to try something just for herself. She knows it won’t work, but maybe the act will ease her hunger regardless. Vanya shuts her eyes, turns her face back to the sky, and opens her mouth to swallow some sunlight. At first, she thinks she’s merely pretending anything’s happening, but then she _feels_ it. Energy she can’t see lands on her tongue and fills her belly. The act thoroughly shocks her, and she opens her eyes just in time to catch her siblings’ confused looks as she tumbles onto her back.

She just ate sunshine. Somehow she just ate a few rays of light and consumed them.

Three and Four rush to her side, neither sure what they just witnessed. Vanya sits herself back up and finds another surprise awaiting her.

“Seven, your hands are _glowing_.” Three stands in awe at the sight.

“Did you already see Dad?” Four asks as he bends down to stare closer.

She shakes her head, just as lost as them. “I see him last. I’m Seven.”

“I think you’re five or six now,” corrects Four with an excited expression. “Seven!” He cries in glee. “You just got your magic!”

* * *

 

**Years 792 - 795**

When Vanya leaves the estate, she wonders from town to town for a short while. Eventually, she finds herself at the doors of  the wizard guild Lunar Melody. The guild master welcomes her immediately, provides her with the guild’s mark. Beyond him, no one else approaches her. She learns later of the guild’s history, why the members are weary of and distant to new wizards. She overhears that she’s only the third mage to join after the incident years ago between Lunar Melody and a wizard by the name, Jenkins.

The distance originally bothers her, reminds her sadly of her home, her siblings. Even her father was colder to them after Five’s disappearance and Ben’s death in those years leading up to their departures (except Luther, she adds in hindsight.) Overtime, though, she grows accustomed to the familiar role as _outsider_. She’s always been one... probably always will be.

Things begin to shift for her for the better when the guild’s attacked her third year as a member.

She sneaks in from the back of the building, undetected by the dark wizards attacking. She calls upon her magic, sucks in the light that streams through the windows she passes. Then she charges out from the hallway, fully surrounded by white light. Scales creep up her wrists and ankles, her skin there turns hard and smooth. Her normally dull brown eyes alight with a burning, pure white fire.

A hush falls on her struggling, stunned guild members, and the enemy directs their attention solely on her. The fight’s over in minutes.

It’s the next day, in the midst of cleaning up yesterday’s destruction, when Vanya’s approached by one of (if not) the strongest mages in the guild, Helen Cho, an S-Class, Ice Maker wizard.

“You joined nearly three years ago.”

The question’s delivered more as a statement, but she nods regardless.

Helen tsks. “When were you going to tell us you were a dragon slayer?”

A... dragon slayer? Was that what she was? Father always claimed she... He always said she’d never measure up, never meet his qualifications to be a proper wizard. Had he known? Did he know all along?

Vanya shakes her head, begins to subconsciously make herself smaller. Three years she lived practically invisible here, and now everyone’s tuned in to hear her response, hear what she says to Helen. No one even attempts to eavesdrop subtlety.

“I’m not. I practice purification magic.” She explains, but the doubt’s there already.

Helen frowns at her, and Vanya suspects she bites back a harsh response before she speaks again. Helen wasn’t known to be the nicest.

“White magic doesn’t give you scales or those spells. If you don’t want to share, fine, but don’t take us for idiots. I know dragon force when I see it.”

Later that night, Vanya seeks out their guild master. The old man gently grips her hands as he confirms Helen’s words.

“Oh Vanya, you wear the mark of Lunar Melody and that of the dragons. You wield magic strong enough to slay the great beasts.”

“But, I don’t want to kill dragons.”

His eyes grow sad at the thought. “And I hope you never have to. Vanya,” he squeezes her hands, “your comrades have kept you as a stranger for much too long, and I apologize for their foolish behavior. You have a home here.”

It takes time, but Vanya falls into a new routine following the attack. She has friends for the first time, and most of her guildmates engage her in conversation past polite pleasantries. She still struggles every so often with initiating discussions on her own, approaching others first, but she’s working on it. (A few weeks after the attack, Vanya learns others in the guild perceived her as a chosen loner, unwilling to make acquaintances or friends, so they avoided her.)

Helen’s still distant, but Vanya hopes, one day, the two of them may be able to call one another friend.

* * *

 

**Year 795**

News travels in the months afterwards. Eudora catches wind of the current rumor and passes it on to Diego once it reaches Night Fang.

“Lunar Melody has themselves a dragon slayer.”

Diego flips his blade in the air, catches it by the hilt during its fall. “Yeah, right.”

Eudora rolls her eyes at his quick dismissal.

“That magic may be rarer than most these days, but it’s said there’s still a few dragons alive. Why wouldn’t there also be slayers?”

Diego resheaths the knife and gives a half shrug. “Rumors are just that, _rumors_. I’ll believe it when I see it.”

Sometimes Diego could be both aggravatingly annoying and impossibly endearing all at once. This was not one of those times.

Eudora raises her left wrist and shakes it to grab his attention. “You may be god chosen,” Eudora doesn’t miss the scowl that crosses his face right then, “but that doesn’t mean you and your siblings are the best. There’s always going to be someone better, Diego.”

He fights his initial urge to argue, chooses to smirk and challenge instead. “Name one person, Patch.”

The air mage is grinning before she even finishes her answer. “Easy. _Me_.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Dragon slayers can eat their element, so as the white dragon slayer (like Sting in FT), Vanya can consume light and certain white things to receive more energy and boost her power. Contrary to FT’s canon, there’s not many famous slayer-type wizards. Some folks (like Helen) know of or have met other slayers, but that aspect of Vanya’s magic was kept from her as a kid. Also, white magic = purification magic. Different names, same thing.
> 
> Next: The apocalypse is coming. Diego brings in reinforcements.


	19. Reinforcements: Part I

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Timeskips marked off by section dividers.

** Year 792 **

It takes four months, but Eudora finally learns Diego’s last name.

Wizard Saint Reginald Hargreeves’ elite team of young mages was the talk of Fiore (and Ishgar’s other kingdoms) for years until the group suddenly vanished from the public’s eye. Rumors claimed one of the boys died. Others said Hargreeves had finally kicked the bucket. (Later, between job requests and shared sheets, Eudora learns the truth of each rumor. She serves as Diego’s confidant, listens to each of Diego’s sporadic bursts of honesty regarding his life, childhood, family.)

When she finally makes the connection, she’s skimming an article theorizing what became of the Elegit Deus wizards, those six “god chosen” mages. _“Diego, aka Two, was rumored to be the fastest and most accurate requip wizard in Fiore. Could he be the lone figure witnesses saw...” ...fastest and most accurate requip wizard..._

Eudora jumps from her seat, magazine in hand, and rushes out of her apartment. _He should be at the guild..._  This was one of those times where she was grateful for her apartment complex’s proximity to Night Fang. She bursts through the doors five minutes later and immediately zeroes in on Diego. He’s in his usual spot, corner table with a view of all visible exits. She makes her way towards him, triumphant smirk already fighting to be expressed. She fights the urge, cools her face, goes in unreadable.

“Dora.” Diego leans his seat back. “Got a job?”

“Better.” She drops the magazine. “Page fourteen.”

Curiosity compels Diego to investigate. Eudora stands, watches as he flips to the article. Recognition flashes across his face, closely followed by surprise. Neither stay long. When Diego looks back up, his expression is completely schooled.

“This is better than jewel how?”

Cat that caught the canary. Patch that caught the-

“ _Hargreeves_. You’re Diego Hargreeves.” She says it loud enough for Diego to hear her, but soft enough so those nearby miss it.

He shifts in his seat, looks anywhere but at her. He’s not happy, that’s clear, but he’s not denying it either.

She pulls out the chair before her, joins him at the table. “Relax. I’m not going to share if you don’t want me to.”

The stress in his body doesn’t leave, but his forehead minutely unwrinkles. Diego glances to her, let’s out the breath he was holding.

“For the record,” she starts, “next time don’t use your actual name.” Her light jab does the trick as Diego shakes his head, a small smile forms. Work it does, but not in the way she intends.

“Diego’s not my real name.” He says, voice calm, eyes cautious. He scoots his chair back, stands to head for the front doors.

“What do you mean by that? Diego. Diego!” Eudora hurries after him, but he never does explain himself, not then at least.

It takes another six months before Eudora learns more about her guildmate. The night’s young, and stars glitter across the cloudless sky. _I had a brother. Read everything there was to know about stars._  It almost takes her aback, his willing honesty, but Eudora doesn’t interrupt. (She notes the past tense immediately.) Overtime, they grow closer, beyond mere coworkers, and Eudora slowly learns more. Diego, beneath his often too-quick temper and worrying reckless streak, is one of the sincerest wizards she knows.

It takes a year and a half, but Eudora Patch falls in love with Diego Hargreeves.

* * *

 

** Year 789 **

At sixteen, Eudora Patch is the youngest mage promoted to S-Class. She’s currently Night Fang’s fifth. Her first job request after winning the trial takes two and a half weeks. When she returns her eye’s swollen, and her left arm’s in a cast. She walks through the guild doors with one of her brightest smiles to date.

* * *

 

** Years 792 - 799 **

She falls for Diego sometime after he falls for her. They move from two travel rooms to one, two twins to one queen. The shift from teammates to romantic and sexual partners is seamless. She laughs freely with him, smiles more beside him than away. She wants this to last.

However, life leads them down a different road.

Something slips out of place. Being together grows harder to do. She calls it off, requests a break, no strings, the night after Diego returns from another solo stunt. _Another suicide_ _mission_ , she says. Her familiar frustration and disappoint simmer beneath the surface. He looks away, bites his tongue. The week following finds Diego on an undetermined probation as ordered by their guild master.

Sir Reginald Hargreeves dies three months later.

* * *

 

** Year 799 **

In all her years of knowing Diego, Eudora never once thought she’d ever meet his family. Yeah, he usually spoke of his siblings in a positive or neutral way, but he never mentioned an urge to see them or reconnect. When he did refer to one of them, the times were rare and far between. Additionally, Diego never said much on Reginald Hargreeves. (Didn’t cry or visibly mourn him after the news of his passing, either.) So it’s safe to say she’s beyond surprised when three days after Diego’s left to attend his father’s funeral he rushes back into the guild hall calling for her, two mages she’s never seen before at his heels.

“Dor- Patch!”

The three rush her, and she quickly stands from her table to greet them.

“Diego, what’s the-”

“Eudo- _Patch_  we have a situation-”

“The world ends in six days,” cuts in the shortest figure. She drops her gaze to him, scans the teenager’s face for a hint of humor or amusement. His deadly serious eyes stare back. “Are you going to watch it burn or do something?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next: Dave sees a falling star. AKA Reinforcements: Part II.


	20. Reinforcements: Part II

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you remotely like my writing, please consider checking out my Alice in Wonderland AU for TUA, “Down the Rabbit Hole.” I’m really proud of it, as both a writer and reader. I'm also debating whether to write a series of scenes that occur in that 'verse, so if you'd like that, please lmk.
> 
> Also, any and all questions from this chapter will be answered... In time.

**Year 790**

He remembers dying. He doesn’t recall the pain, nor the dematerialization of his body, but he remembers his brother’s heartbroken face; Luther’s utter grief and guilt. He doubts he’ll ever be able to forget his expression.

Then nothing. The world fades away, his senses shut off, and everything goes black... complete and utter darkness.

The next thing he knows is hearing the faint sound of someone breathing. Ben’s not sure how long he was there, alone in the dark abyss, in the nothingness of death, before reappearing here, but it doesn’t matter. Not now that he’s finally _present_ again. (Later, he learns he was gone for a little over a week.)

The noise grows clearer, mixes with the familiar creaks and hums and shadows of a too large home.

Scattered jars of flames reach his sight first, lighting up the otherwise dark bedroom. A shape stirs in the bed before him, and Ben finally realizes where he is. He’s in his brother’s room, Klaus’ room.

He’s back. Home. Ben’s home.

* * *

  

**Year 799**

Ben, Klaus knows, is (unshockingly) correct 99% of the time. Klaus, Ben knows, only heeds his advice 10% of the time.

For instance, Klaus wondering off and failing to inform Five, Diego, or Diego’s friend, that he was doing so. Ben’s advice? _Anything but that._ Klaus? Waved of his ghostly brother’s concern for more _important_ matters, i.e. checking out the nearest magic shop.

It’s a bit of a walk from Diego’s guild hall, but Klaus manages to slip in unfollowed by anyone living. Ben, the one spirit always with him in one form or another, grumbles but floats behind him, curiosity slowly piquing his own interest.

 _Sleep charm, sleep charm, sleep..._ Klaus shoves his hands into his jacket’s pockets, peers up and down every shelf.

“You can’t pay for anything here.”

Klaus flicks his eyes Ben’s way. At Klaus' expression, his brother frowns and shakes his head. They both know Klaus doesn’t intend to _pay_ for anything.

Something near them shines and catches Klaus’ eye. There, between an old book and a lightning lacrima is a ring. Klaus slides over, grins when the description reads, “induces sleep.”

“Just ask Allison to-” starts Ben, but Klaus interrupts.

“To whammy me? No can do. Besides, I need something that’ll work anywhere, anytime. Can’t bottle up our sister, unfortunately.”

“You don’t even know where this ring came from or who enchanted it. It could be a one-way ticket to your death, Klaus.” He’s heard that one before. Klaus shrugs, surveys the store before determining the coast clear. He snatches up the ring and drops it into his right pocket in four seconds.

The shop’s door opens, but Klaus ignores the new customer. He strolls through another aisle, merely passing time now.

“Have you seen any of these wizards pass through here?” The newest customer, some guy with a beard, Klaus thinks absently, stands at the check-out desk, photos in hand. Ben drifts over, boredly curious.

The owner replies, but Klaus is humming to himself and misses what is said next. He spies a jeweled chalice, wonders how he could make off with it. He’s just about to run his fingers across it when Ben nearly slams into, or rather, _through_ him, urgency in his eyes and voice.

“Klaus, we need to go. Now.” If Ben could, he’d be physically pushing Klaus out of the store himself.

“And we need to because-?”

“There’s no time, just go!”

Klaus turns, looks at Ben straight on. He drops his lazy grin, quickly shoots his eyes to the back of the shop where Ben came from. He raises his hands in mock surrender and pivots towards the exit. “Alright, alright, but you’re explaining why.” Klaus replies softer, remains loud enough only for Ben’s ears. 

Ben sighs in relief and follows beside Klaus. “Remember those assassins Five mentioned? One’s here with pictures of you and everyone else.”

Klaus wants to glance back, to get one more look at the guy, but he forces himself to keep moving forward. They reach the door, push it open, stroll through and out onto the sidewalk. At least Ben got a good enough look at him, Klaus reminds himself.

They turn back towards the guild, attempt a pace between leisurely and hurried.

“Is he following us?”

Ben checks, shakes his head no.

“How did you even know it was one of the guys Five mentioned? I thought he was merely exaggerating.”

“About the apocalypse and dark guild of assassins?”

“Can you blame me?”

“You weren’t sober when he discussed that, so, yeah, I can.”

They travel in silence then, nearing Diego’s guild with each step. Finally, the building is in their sight. Klaus is about to step off of the sidewalk to cross the street when Ben suddenly orders him to turn left.

“Night Fang is straight ahead-”

“You’re being followed, idiot. Turn left. If you lead them to Night Fang-”

“We’ll be backed up by Five, Diego, and that S-Class mage? Doesn’t seem like a bad-”

“Klaus,” hisses Ben, frustration building. “Just lead them off for a little bit. If you get somewhere secluded, you can go into your shadow and reach the others without being detected or _followed_.”

“Fine. Fine!” Klaus turns left, quickens his pace. “Just tell me where to go.” He could break out into a run, but then the assassin- was it even the same guy? Could it be someone else behind them? Regardless, if he were to do that, it’d be outright obvious that Klaus knew they were following him.

“Ben, tell me where to go. Come on, is he-” Klaus turns to his right, to his left, nearly trips over his own feet. Ben. Where was Ben? He wouldn’t just abandon him like this would he? Was anyone actually trailing him? Klaus paused, waited a moment, but his brother was nowhere to be seen. Strange. It’d gotten really quiet all of a sudden. Usually there was always a low hum of voices wherever Klaus went, the ever constant unintelligible voices of the dead.

“Ben?” Silence. “This isn’t funny.”

“I’m not laughing.” The reply comes from directly behind him. Klaus jolts and turns to face the woman. _He never heard her approach._

 _“_ Night, night, Number Four.” She conjures forth a handgun and shoots. Everything goes black as he falls backwards onto the uncaring ground.

* * *

 

** Year 750 **

_Shooting stars hold magic wizards will never know. That’s why you always make a wish, Dave. One day, the heavens may answer it._

His mother’s words play through his mind as he stares towards the stars. It’s a cool night, the first evening without rain in a while. 

Dave lifts his bottle, raises it to the heavens. A bright light flickers to the side of his vision and he quickly turns, stares in awe as a shooting star races across the sky. Wait. That’s ridiculous. It almost... it almost looks like it’s getting closer, closer to _him_. _Oh-_

“Shit!” Dave jumps up, rushes away from his campsite. He summons a shield of interlaced vines and holds it in place to cover his back. Not good, _not good._

The world erupts in earth and wind and smoke and noise. Dave dives down, enlarges his shield to cover his entire form. Seconds pass. Then minutes. A wild fire never lights, never races across the field from the impact area. Dave cautiously stands and lowers his shield. There, on the other side of his campsite is a newly formed crater.

He disperses his spell as he slowly approaches the fallen star. He’s never seen a star in person. He’s never given it much thought either, but he’s positive they don’t look like people. And yet... There at the bottom of the crater is a man, covered in dust, dirt, bruises, and- shit, _blood_.

His Mom never prepared him for this.

* * *

 

~~ **Year ???** ~~

She clicks her heels together, impatience growing by the second. She should have their heads for this _slip-up_. Not only did they lose Five, but they lost the girl, too. She knows without a doubt that they’re together. If he manages to release her...

”Ma’am,” greets a familiar voice. 

She blinks, glances up. _Finally._

”Cha-Cha.” She frowns. “You’re late. Where’s-”

”Bathroom.”

_Well, that won’t do._

“Get him here. _Now_. I have an assignment for you both.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey! Been a while. I’ve added year stamps to each chapter, and I am low key considering ordering this chronologically once it’s entirely complete. Anyone know if rearranging a fic’s chapter order messes with comments? (I also have new/more plot-lines for this fic, so yay!)
> 
> Next: Vanya, and Allison, and Luther, oh my! AKA Reinforcements: Part III.


	21. Reinforcements: Part III

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Last chapter for Reinforcements. ^u^

** Year 799 **

The morning after the funeral, after their missing brother’s sudden return, the Hargreeves siblings gather in the downstairs sitting room.

Vanya picks at the sleeve of her slightly too large sweater and waits with Five for the others to arrive. Her brother’s words from the night prior play on repeat in her mind. It’s almost too much to believe... too much to have experienced. She observes him, watches as he paces and mumbles calculations to himself. The boy- _man_  before her isn’t the brother she knew, the brother she remembers. He’s still there, somewhere, but Five’s seen things, lived things she can’t begin to comprehend. At least not within only twenty-four hours.

Allison joins them first. After a few minutes she's followed by Diego and Luther. Klaus semi-dances in last, a familiar glaze across his eyes. He flaps one of his arms, mumbles something Vanya can’t make out. She futilely hoped that after these last few years her brother wouldn’t be addicted to the same vices from his youth. She’s not even disappointed to be proven wrong.

Five straightens his buttoned jacket before meeting each of his sibling’s eyes. There’s no _easy_  way for this conversation to go. Especially considering the mess yesterday when he arrived. However, Vanya insisted they would want to help.

Luther shifts in his seat. Where Five hasn’t changed, his brother’s grown to a concerning degree. At a different time Five would inquire after Luther’s appearance, but that would have to wait for now. 

Five glances to Vanya. She offers him a slight nod. It isn’t much, but it’s enough. They may not believe him, initially, but they’re his family all the same.

Vanya sits with bated breath as Five finally speaks.

* * *

 

“The world ends in eight days.”

* * *

 

In hindsight, Vanya should have suggested her brother start the meeting with something other than the impending apocalypse's timeline.

The room erupts into questions, doubts, and accusations; voices rise in volume by the second. Vanya doesn’t hear what sets Diego off, but the next thing she visually registers is him jumping up from his seat and stalking towards Luther, both men looking a minute from confrontation. When had Luther stood up? And, now Klaus is encouraging them to fight. Of course.

* * *

 

Suffice it to say, the meeting takes longer than Five intended it to because his siblings are literal children. By the end, Five has a migraine pounding behind his eyes, but they also have an _agreed_  upon course of immediate action.

Prior to this morning, Five projected they had a 4.3% chance of survival. Now? His calculations conclude, “6.2%.”

Everyone is silent. Various levels of dread paint his siblings’ faces. Finally, Klaus claps as he kicks up his feet onto the coffee table.

“Yippee! It’s a party.”

* * *

 

Despite everyone's differences and various protests, the six of them agree to work together up until the successful prevention of the apocalypse. Five declares that if they are to succeed at all, they will need more than the six of them. After all, there was a reason why he left the rift and didn’t stay to fight. Diego is quick to suggest his guild. Vanya is less eager, but she mentions Lunar Melody, too.

Eventually, after a minor disagreement regarding leadership between Luther, Diego, and Five, they all decide to split up. Five goes with Diego and Klaus to Night Fang, and Vanya leaves with Luther and Allison.

Vanya can't recall the last time she spent this much time around her siblings, most of all Luther and Allison. Growing up, Luther never paid her much attention nor time. Allison and her hung out, if only occasionally, but after their father gave Allison and the others their Elegit Deus marks, the sisters grew further apart. No one wanted anything to do with her then.

The three of them arrive to Lunar Melody by evening. Vanya offers to enter alone, but Luther insists they follow. Her siblings may have not conducted any jobs as Elegit Deus mages for over eight years, but Vanya has a sinking feeling they will still be recognized by her guild mates. In no time at all, everything she has worked for will be ruined. Why would anyone want to keep her around after meeting her siblings? Two previous Elegit Deus wizards?

She briefly considers pushing back, but knows neither Luther nor Allison would listen anyways. So, together, the three of them enter Lunar Melody. Vanya pauses once inside to scan the hall. After spotting Helen, Vanya guides them towards the ice mage. Helen greets them with a disinterested hmm, keeps her focus directed instead to a recent Sorceror’s Weekly.

Vanya pulls out an empty seat at the table, and Luther and Allison follow her lead.

”Helen,” Vanya taps the table once, but the other woman doesn’t look up. She should have expected this. “We need your help.”

The ice wizard flips to the magazine’s next page. ”With a job?”

“Not exactly.”

“Can’t help you, Hargreeves.”

”Helen,” starts Vanya, but Luther replies first, “Miss, this matter takes precedence.”

Helen slowly glances upwards. She scrutinizes Luther, her face characteristically free of any emotion. “And this ‘matter’ would be what, exactly?”

* * *

 

When Diego and Five finish speaking with Eudora, she goes into the back to share the information with their guild master. Five is grateful for her support, but the thought of an entire guild’s worth of mages only seems to darken his mood. If these wizards join them, the odds Five and his siblings win increases, but the risk of injury and death for everyone else increases, too. Then again, no one survives if they lose to the Temps Aeternalis.

Five meets Diego’s gaze. “We need Dolores.”

It takes a moment for Diego to recall the name. Five doesn’t approve of the disbelief that colors his brother’s expression of recognition. “Five, do you mean that statue?”

His jaw tightens at Diego’s implication. “Dolores may be trapped, but she is alive. If we can find a wizard or spellbook with knowdlege of counter curses, then we can free her. We need-“

”Yeah, all right. All the help we can find.”

”Diego, the only reason the Temps Aeternalis would curse her is if she were a threat. We need every _threat_ possible.”

Five knows before his brother replies that whatever he’s about to say is going to piss him off. His prediction is, unfortunately, correct. Diego leans his chair onto its back two legs. “She can’t be much of a threat if she fell victim to a curse in the first place.”

For a second, Five sees red. He calls forth his magic to teleport from his own seat to stand directly behind Diego. He grips the back of his chair so he can teleport it to the other side of the room. The moment the seat vanishes, Diego falls to the floor hard, caught entirely unprepared. 

Five considers leaving without a word, but instead he shoots a dismissive, wait here, Diego’s way. Then he blinks from the guild hall.

* * *

 

He finds a bakery a few streets over from Night Fang. He wants something stronger, but he knows he needs the energy coffee provides. He opens the door and walks in. The shop is quaint and empty of customers. Reminds him of a few others he and his siblings sneaked out to as kids.

Five makes his way to the counter and sits atop one of the stools.

The sound of shoes dully clacking closer announces the owner’s journey from the kitchen. Five rests his arms on the counter. He reads the woman’s name tag once she stops in front of him.

”Good evening,” greets Agnes. “What would you like, young man?”

“Coffee. Black.” His voice may come out harsher than he intends, but he doesn’t care one way or another.

She brings him a mug, and in exchange, he slides a few jewel towards her. She drifts away from him, moves down towards the cake cases.

Five drinks his coffee in silence. He orders a second to go before he makes his way back to Diego’s guild hall. It’s only as he crosses through the guild’s doors that he realizes he can’t remember the last time he saw Klaus. He tells as much to Diego, but his brother reassures him that Klaus’ absence isn’t anything out of the usual.

”He’s around town, Five,” Diego assures. “We’re his transport back.”

”Unless, that idiot took it.”

Diego’s unease tells Five everything. _Of course_ , Five thinks, _stealing from his siblings is exactly something Klaus would do_. He pinches the bridge of his nose in frustration. “We’ll deal with Klaus later,” he decides. “What did I miss?”

* * *

 

Helen engages with Luther and Allison in an almost undismissive way. It doesn’t take Vanya long to realize she’s not needed for the conversation. As she walks outside, eyes cast downwards, Vanya runs into someone on their way inside. She nearly trips over her feet on impact, but manages to catch herself by reaching a hand out and gripping the other person’s shoulder. He does the same, but quickly lets go as he rights himself.

Embarrassment floods her, and an apology leaves her lips the same time one leaves his. She stands up straight, runs a hand down her sweater. ”It was my fault, truly,” she says, as she raises her head.

”Not at all,” he reassures. She wracks her mind, but can’t place his voice or face.

”Have we-“

”No, no. I joined last week.” He puts out his right hand for her to shake and stretches his left to scratch behind his head. As he does so, Vanya catches sight of the Lunar Melody symbol on the inside of his left wrist. She distantly recognizes the location as the same placement her siblings’ tattoos are and as the same place her own Lunar Melody mark resides.

She shakes his hand. “Vanya Hargreeves.”

“Leonard Peabody.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next: When strangers visit...
> 
> ~Have a specific character POV or referenced/skipped scene that you want to see next or sooner than later? Please leave it in a comment! I may choose your pick!


	22. The Assignment

~~**Year ???** ~~

_Finally, a new job._  She stands to attention, ready to receive her order. It’s been a while since she’s left the rift. Days at headquarters quickly get redundant without the occasional target to take out. Redundant and frustratingly boring.

Hazel takes his sweet ass time walking in. From her peripheral, she sees him dry his damp hands by wiping them on his pants. Where she awaits the Handler’s words, Hazel would rather do anything else. How they have managed to last this long as partners is sometimes beyond her.

”Apologies, ma’am,” Hazel says out of habit than sincerity. He gives a slight bow of his head.

”Cha-Cha. Hazel.” The Handler rests her elbows on her desk before bringing the tips of her fingers together. “I am sending you to 799, seven days before Rebirth. Mission completion is pivotal to Rebirth’s success.” She doesn’t mention nor remind them of the consequences that await them if they fail, but the threat is there in her smile and voice.

It’s a damn good thing Cha-cha doesn’t do failure.

“Here’s your assignment,” the Handler gracefully stands from her seat and picks up a folded sheet of paper. She hands it to Cha-Cha before sitting ontop of her desk. She casually crosses her arms and legs, waits expectantly for their reaction.

Cha-Cha unwraps it. Hazel leans in close to peer over her shoulder. Neither expect the name that’s listed. She reads it once, then twice, but the words don't change. She immediately knows this job will be far from easy, even further from usual. Hazel lets out a groan when he recognizes the name. He holds an arm up to his stomach in an attempt to mask his obvious displeasure as mere indigestion.

Of everyone in existence, their mark had to be _him_.

Resigned to their task, they both look up. The Handler dismisses them with the barest of waves. "You leave in fifteen."

* * *

**Year 799**

It takes them longer than Cha-Cha would care to admit to locate the mansion. When they finally do, they discover the grounds thrumming with energy from various enchantments. Through a combination of their skills, Cha-Cha and Hazel are able to disengage most of them. Through Hazel’s Territory, they manage to bypass the remaining spells by teleporting themselves inside the mansion’s entryway.

They appear in fight stances, but no combatants appear. Minutely relaxing, they silently agree to split up. However, it does not take them long to realize the mansion’s deserted. That is, aside from the Machias Hazel stumbles across downstairs. The machine ignores him as he enters. He considers leaving it alone, would honestly prefer to, but past words from Cha-Cha and the Handler compel him to strike, regardless.

With a dejected sigh, he calls forth his Territory magic and isolates one of the Machias’ lacrimas. With a snap of his fingers he removes the power source and randomly discards it elsewhere in the mansion. Before his eyes, the machine briefly freezes before collapsing on the floor in a heap, a lifeless puppet with cut strings. He turns away before teleporting himself to stand beside Cha-Cha. Cha-Cha makes no mention of seeing the Machias, and Hazel doesn’t mention it. She’d only pester him on why he didn’t destroy the lacrima instead.

”He’s not here,” Cha-Cha returns the pistol she conjured upon arrival.

”Maybe she had it wrong.”

Cha-Cha shoots him a glare. “She never has it wrong.”

Hazel half-heartedly shrugs his shoulders as he searches for a place to sit. They are in an office, shelves full of various tomes and magic items line the walls. “So we wait.”

” _No_. _We don’t wait,”_ Cha-Cha snaps. She studies the room before continuing. “We’re going to go to him.” She walks towards the nearest wall and begins rifling through the assorted books and magazines there. She throws several of them behind her in his direction. “Get to reading.”

* * *

In the end, they leave the mansion with a second lead to investigate and stolen images of Number Five Hargreeves and his siblings.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next: TBD (Presently leaning towards Klaus or Allison’s pov next...)
> 
> ~Have a specific character POV or referenced/skipped scene that you want to see next or sooner than later? Please leave it in a comment! I may choose your pick!

**Author's Note:**

> Magic Reference:  
> Agnes: ???  
> Allison: Mind Control (ex. Zash), Charm (ex. Bora), Fairy Magic (ex. Evergreen), Dispel (ex. Coordinator)  
> Ben: Take-Over - Demon Soul (ex. Mirajane), Solid Script (ex. Levy)  
> Cha-Cha: Requip - Guns (ex. Alzack & Bisca), Letter Magic (ex. Levy & Freed)  
> Dave: Green Magic (ex. Warrod Sequen)  
> Diego: Requip - Swords/Blades/Knives & Armor (ex. Erza)  
> Dolores: ???  
> Eudora: Air Magic (ex. Ren)  
> Five: Spatial Magic - Teleportation (ex. Mest), Time Magic: ???  
> Grace: Sky Magic (ex. Wendy)  
> Handler: ???  
> Hazel: Territory (ex. Minerva)  
> Helen: Ice-Make (ex. Gray)  
> Klaus: Legend of City (ex. Chico), Shadow Magic (ex. Kageyama), Seith Magic (ex. Bickslow)  
> Leonard: ???  
> Luther: Take-Over - Beast Soul (ex. Elfman), Strength-based Enhancement Spells  
> Pogo: Aera (ex. Happy)  
> Vanya: White Dragon Slayer (ex. Sting)


End file.
